Could I see some pics of how your wires/cables exit the electrical cabinet?

[Jackal66]

There are a lot of pics of machines & wiring, but no pics of where the cables & wires exit the cabinet.

The multi-pin panel mount plugs look good. They just caused a lot of problems on my Hurco, by working loose & corroded connections.

My thinking is perhaps a grommet through the panel and then have a external box with another grommet on the bottom for the cable to come through.

Maybe this will work the same way a weather-head connector to a house works.

There are some outdoor plug-in covers, for home use, that might do what I am wanting.

Before anything, it would be nice to see what some of the people here have done.

There are probably some real great, yet simple ideas that make us want to kick ourselves.

Thanks in advance,

JAckal

[Al_The_Man]

As a general rule, the main reason for cable disconnects entering an enclosure is for portability where the machine has to be shipped in pieces, if it is one unit or to remain in one place then 1/2" conduit strain reliefs are commonly used, these are ordered with the right size rubber compression grommet at the time of order, they take from 1/4" to around 1/2" dia cables, you can obtain these from any electrical supply house, it is handy if you have access to a K.O. cutter to make the holes, these are a compression punch that goes from 1/2" to about 2" conduit size and make short work of making the right size holes.
Al.

[Huckmeat]

My BOSSV had the rubber grommet strain reliefs, and they work great.

However, when I rewired it and gutted the electronics, I went with 1/2" flexible metal conduit, from the motor or switch housing to the cabinet (both already had 1/2" threads/knockouts.) The conduit makes it easy to pull wires through and offers great protection.

[Al_The_Man]

Originally Posted by Huckmeat However, when I rewired it and gutted the electronics, I went with 1/2" flexible metal conduit, from the motor or switch housing to the cabinet (both already had 1/2" threads/knockouts.) The conduit makes it easy to pull wires through and offers great protection.

Yes, that too!
You can get it in metallic or non-metallic liquid seal.
You can also get super flex if it is fed to something constantly in motion.
Al.

[BobWarfield]

Don't have a picture handy of the finished panel, but here is a work in progress as I was testing the connections:



Those are microphone connectors. They seal pretty well and have plenty of connections. The panel was engraved with a spot drill. Spots and center drills both make decent engravers in a pinch.

Cheers,

BW

[Jackal66]

Guys,

Thanks for all of the info. I have some metal flex conduit. It isn't weatherproof, though.

Bob W,

How will you seal that panel to the enclosure? A gasket or maybe a fine bead of silicone?

By the way, you have a fantastic site CNC Cookbook: Blog.

It has been a lot of help and gives great ideas.

JAckal

[BobWarfield]

Jackal, I didn't bother with sealing. The panel is not in a location where it is likely to get splashed by anything, so there is just an overlap of the panel to the cutout.

If I were worried about it, I would probably use some gasketing cement of some kind. I'm pretty shy about plain silicone RTV in the shop--the fumes corrode the heck out of anything they come in contact with. But there are variants that don't have corrosive fumes (that vinegar smell we all know and hate!).

Best,

BW

[Jackal66]

Bob,

I'll have to watch for that. There was a lathe in a shop where I worked years ago, that had many problems. An electrician came in and said there was silicon gobbed all around the wires to keep coolant out. It had dissolved some stuff. He told me then to never get it on the wires.

Thanks for telling me about the fumes. I'll be sure to avoid the vinegar smelling sealers.

JAckal

[diyengineer]

I used the ebay connectors. Dirt cheap and work wonderful.

[doorknob]

Originally Posted by diyengineer I used the ebay connectors. Dirt cheap and work wonderful.

Do you have a link to those?

[diyengineer]

Originally Posted by doorknob Do you have a link to those?

Military Gold 5-Pin Twist Male Female Connector,5PF | eBay

Ok so that is the link to the 5 pin. They have everything from 2 pin, all the way up to like 35 pins!!

I went with the 12 pin models. Super high quality.

[doorknob]

Originally Posted by diyengineer Military Gold 5-Pin Twist Male Female Connector,5PF | eBay Ok so that is the link to the 5 pin. They have everything from 2 pin, all the way up to like 35 pins!! I went with the 12 pin models. Super high quality.

They look very interesting - did they combine postage (if you bought multiples)?

I'm not sure from the photo - Do those plugs have a "bayonet" twist mount?